190 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



stands for the most part a foot or two higher than the level of the 

 pool above. The height above the bed of the river must be from 

 six to seven feet, the whole forming a broad causeway which, 

 when the river is not high, was a convenient means of crossing from 

 bank to bank, before the private bridge further down was recon- 

 structed. There are seven boxes, four in one arm of the V, and 

 three in the other. Fish congregate in great numbers below the 

 cruive, and the fine running pool immediately below and on the 

 Castle side of the island is certainly one of the best in the river. 

 Some great days have been experienced here when the grilse were 

 running ; but of this later. 



The cruives were not always in their present position, but in 

 early days were close to the mouth of the river above the new 

 Lovat Bridge, which replaced the old structure carried away in The 

 Moray Floods. The houses which were attached to the old cruives 

 still exist and are still in use called Cruive End. Here the old 

 coppers of roomy dimensions are yet to be seen, in which, before the 

 days of ice-packing and railways in the North, salmon were cooked 

 or par-boiled preparatory to being steeped in vinegar, packed in flat 

 firkins, and shipped to London. 



The Beauly nets are still kept at Cruive End, but netting since 

 1897 to 1907 was restricted to two days a week during the months 

 of June and July. This arrangement has recently been improved 

 upon, and netting is now reduced to a minimum. An estuary 

 netting station, formerly in the possession of Eosehaugh, has also 

 been bought up by Lord Lovat and left unfinished. 



From the cruives to the commencement of the estuary at the top 

 of tide- reach is a distance of about 2J miles. Counting the pools 

 between the cruives and Kilmorack and from the Falls to the sea is 

 the Beaufort Castle water there are fifteen good pools, the majority 

 of which are almost ideal fly pools. Till the shooting season 

 begins the Castle water is let annually for two rods, and the 

 tenants usually reside at the hotel in Beauly. The spring fishing is 

 not perhaps as good as it used to be, for the stock of fish declined 

 some years ago ; but, given suitable weather, the results are reliable, 

 and when the grilse begin to run the takes are often great, for the 

 Beauly is a very good grilse river. Between 200 and 300 fish may 

 be got after the grilse begin to run, and July is the best month. 



The record performances on this stretch of the Beauly were made 

 by the late Lord Lovat and Colonel Duff. They are results the 

 like of which are never obtained nowadays, even in the Grimersta, 



